Johann Georg Tralles
Encyclopedia
Johann George Tralles was a German
mathematician
and physicist
.
He was born in Hamburg, Germany, and was educated at the University of Göttingen beginning in 1783. He became a professor at the University of Bern in 1785. In 1810 he became a professor of mathematics at the University of Berlin.
In 1798 he served as the Swiss
representative to the French metric convocation
, and was a member of its committee on weights and measures. An iron "committee" meter, a duplicate of the prototype archive meter, was then given as a gift to Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler
. From 1803 until 1805 these two men worked together on a topological survey of the Canton
of Bern.
He was the inventor of the alcoholmeter, a device for measuring the amount of alcohol in a liquid.
He died in London, England. The crater Tralles
on the Moon
is named after him, as is the alcoholmeter he invented.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
.
He was born in Hamburg, Germany, and was educated at the University of Göttingen beginning in 1783. He became a professor at the University of Bern in 1785. In 1810 he became a professor of mathematics at the University of Berlin.
In 1798 he served as the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
representative to the French metric convocation
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
, and was a member of its committee on weights and measures. An iron "committee" meter, a duplicate of the prototype archive meter, was then given as a gift to Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler was a surveyor who worked mostly in the United States and also in Switzerland. He headed the United States Coast Survey and the Bureau of Weights and Measures.-Biography:...
. From 1803 until 1805 these two men worked together on a topological survey of the Canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Bern.
He was the inventor of the alcoholmeter, a device for measuring the amount of alcohol in a liquid.
He died in London, England. The crater Tralles
Tralles (crater)
Tralles is an irregular lunar crater that is attached to the northwestern rim of the much larger crater Cleomedes, in the northeastern part of the Moon. Within one crater diameter to the northwest is Debes....
on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
is named after him, as is the alcoholmeter he invented.
External links
- Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler and the United States Coast Survey, including his early work with Tralles.
- Tralles, Johann Georg, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften.